Snapshot of the industry thinking about the Quantum Computing

Episode 6 of the Quantum Technology Explained series

We recently surveyed members of the industry on the topic of quantum computing. Thank you to those that completed the survey. Let’s talk about the survey results and share some insights.

We first asked for respondents’ current level of understanding of quantum computing. Almost 90% of respondents had heard of or knew something about quantum computing. Most respondents selected that they had “Read some stuff”.

Let’s represent respondents with more knowledge of quantum computing in an increasingly darker colour. We asked respondents: “How worried are you about the Quantum threat?”. From the responses, we can begin to see a correlation between respondents’ knowledge of quantum computing and their concern for the threat of quantum computing. Though fewer in total, champion and academic-level respondents were “shouting from rooftops” about the quantum threat.

Now let’s look at optimism. We asked respondents: “How optimistic are you on Quantum opportunities?”. 80% of respondents, particularly those with a higher level of understanding, indicated that they could see potential opportunities from Quantum computing.

Let’s rearrange the dots back to show respondents’ personal levels of understanding of Quantum computing. How does personal understanding transfer into an organisation’s understanding? We can see that there is some correlation between a respondents’ level of understanding and their organisation’s awareness of Quantum computing. However, there are still many organisations that do not have Quantum computing on their radar.

Now we’ll represent respondents in an increasingly darker colour based on their organisation’s understanding of quantum computing. We asked: “What is the likelihood of a Quantum Programme in your organisation within the next 24 months?”. Unsurprisingly, respondents in warier organisations, shown by the darker dots, indicated a higher likelihood of a future quantum programme. 12% of respondents said that a Quantum Programme had already started or been planned and a further 17% said that this was likely or certain.

Lastly, let’s look at an Information Security framing of Quantum computing in organisations. We asked: “What is the likelihood of a Cyber Quantum Programme in the next 24 months?”. Just under 30% of respondents indicated a response of ‘Likely’ or greater. The skew of darker dots towards the right side of the screen implies some correlation between organisational awareness of Quantum computing and an organisation’s keenness for a corresponding Cyber programme.

Quantum computing is a vast area of research. Organisations must reach some minimum level of understanding about quantum computing to recognise its potential and reveal risks.